County Record: Digital Edition

Penny Record: Digital Edition

From the Creaux’s Nest

ON THE FAST TRAIN

It’s come on another week, they just seem to come around every other day. Most of you will recall that while in school, nine months before the summer break seemed to last forever. That’s not so today, in my world anyway. I still catch myself writing 2010 on a check. The years go by during a nap. Times have changed so drastically it’s impossible to visualize what the next 50 years will be like. Can you imagine looking back to 2012 and calling it the “Good Old Days.” In my lifetime the early 1950’s were the best of years. Maybe not the best of times but they were fun. A guy could take it easy, go with the flow, make no waves, bring no drugs, turn up the music and do the hop with a little Rock-N-Roll and Blues. So much for day dreaming about a time that was. I’d better get to work. Come along, I promise it won’t do you no harm.

BATMAN MOVIE SCENE OF DEADLY RAMPAGE

You might ask why I would mention this crime that has had millions of words written and said about it. You would have to have been under a rock not to know about it. I mention it to record the history in this paper. Years from now it will be noted. James Holmes, 24, killed 12 and injured 58 others at the Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colorado, during the showing of a Batman movie. He shot with a .40 caliber handgun, one 12 gauge shotgun and one assault .223 caliber rifle. Fantasy quickly turned to horror in the theater. Thousands of stories will be written in the days to come. No motive has yet been discovered. Holmes was a smart student who had been working on his Ph.D. He didn’t show signs of violence or anger and his police record showed only one speeding ticket. Arrested without incident, he showed a sign of compassion when he told the police his apartment was booby trapped, saving the lives of anyone who would have entered. The deadly shooting occurred Friday, July 20, 2012. In 1999, 20 miles down the road from Aurora, at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colo., 15 were killed. In the Virginia Tech rampage five years ago, in April, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho took 33 lives, including his own. I recall quite well when Charles Whitman killed 14 people and wounded 30 from the University of Texas bell tower in 1966. Violence is not new, remember the Oklahoma bombing and Congresswoman Gabby Gifford who was wounded and six others killed in Arizona. My thoughts are, and I’m not going to get into the gun controversy except to say there is not but one use for assault weapons and that is to kill. Worse than guns is the venom being spewed by haters on conservative radio and TV. We need to be a kinder nation but some people, like Birthers, just won’t let it be. That kind of talk is a formula for a accumulation of hatred. It won’t change, I can just pray that it will. It’s certainly not the only cause, but who knows the damage preaching hatred does.

VOTER ID HURTS MINORITIES, POOR AND ELDERLY

A study by the Brennan Center finds voter identification laws hurt minorities, the poor and elderly. Eleven percent of eligible voters lack the required photo ID in 10 states requiring the new cards. All are Republican controlled states. The report also cited additional costs for documents from $8 to $25. The Texas law, if it stands, will require voters to present an ID, with photo from DPS, the military, the Federal government or a concealed weapons permit. Millions of voters would be disenfranchised. Since there is no evidence of wholesale fraud in any of the states, it’s obvious photo ID is a tool to suppress voter turnout that would benefit one party and punish the other. Voting should be made easier not harder.

DROUGHT TO DRIVE UP MILK AND CHEESE COST

The record drought and heat ravaging much of the nation will soon hit consumers at the supermarket. First milk and cheese, then corn and meat. You may also find less cheese on your pizza. Cows give less milk in high temperatures and higher feed prices make it more expensive to feed them. Over 28 states are seeing record heat.

TURNING BACK THE HANDS OF TIME

10 Years Ago-2002

E.J. “Buddy” Rasberry, 78, of Bridge City remains in stable condition on the third floor at St. Mary’s hospital. According to his son Bryan, Buddy has been diagnosed with the St. Louis Encephalitis Virus, which is carried by mosquitoes. Although humans rarely catch St. Louis Virus, elderly and small children are most susceptible to it. Buddy’s daughter Myra Sherwood said, “He’s outside all the time but we thought he had the flu.” (Editor’s note: Buddy pulled through and went on to remain active. He is now 88 years old. The last I heard he has been in and out at the Meadows, on Hwy. 105.)*****The first art show planned at Bates Studio. Retired dentist Dr. Robert Travis will open Bates Gallery Aug. 3, with a one man show. Dr. Travis said he always wanted to show his works but had not been able to find a place large enough before.*****FBI profilers arrived in Orange to help find the killers of 4-year-old Dannarriah Finley.*****Mike Mason, 51, was recently named new principal of West Orange-Stark High School. Mason is a native of Liberal, Kan. He moved to Southeast Texas in 1978, for a coaching and teaching job at Port Arthur. He also worked in Liberty and Hampshire Fannett.*****Dr. Howard Mallett, 70, died at his home in Woodville July 20. He was a graduate of Bishop Byrne High, Lamar and attended University of Texas dental branch. The former Air Force Captain practiced dentistry in Nederland for 35 years. He is survived by wife Gay, five children. He is survived locally by aunt Amy Oubre and cousin Phyllis Dunn, both of Bridge City.*****The 15th annual OCARC fishing tournament will be held Aug. 2 and Aug. 3.*****Bridge City Rotarians install officers. Mike Moreau, president, Steve Quibodeaux, vice-president, Mary Railey, secretary-treasurer, directors Lou Raburn, Ronnie Hutchison, John Dubose, Bobbie Burgess, president elect.*****Big John Patterson, Orange native and West Orange-Stark grad, makes it to the majors after having Tommy John surgery which had all but ended his career. The 24-year-old Patterson signed for a seven figure bonus with the Arizona Diamondbacks as their first round selection right out of high school in 1996. Patterson made his major league début against the San Francisco Padres. He threw 88 pitches in six innings with 54 of them being strikes. He walked two, fanned four, allowed one hit. He left the game behind 1-0 however, Arizona came back to win 7-1. John is the son of Doug and Cheryl Patterson. July 20, 2001 will always be remembered as the day “Big John” got the call. He was the starter at QualcommPark in front of 54,980 fans for the defending world champions.

35 Years Ago-1977

The old Brown Bowling Lanes have been completely renovated. K.U. Davis and Lloyd Hayes have made a super place out of it.*****Celebrating birthdays this week are Jan Curlyo, RandyArnaud, Louis Gay, Jimmy Ramey and Anne Landing. Lynn Hall and Wayne Morse will celebrate Aug. 2.*****By the way, on July 31, Lynn and Dennis will celebrate their 10th anniversary–if they make it that long.*****Doug Kershaw’s performance in Lake Charles was attended by several OrangeCountians. He introduced his mother, Mama Rita, who is the subject of one of Doug’s hit songs. Doug appeared on ABC TV Monday night and will appear on the Dinah Shore Show next Monday.*****Lightening Hopkins and Clifford Chenier will appear together at Broussard’s Ranch in Lafayette next Sunday.*****Janet Fontenot is having a half-price sale at Shoe Castle, 608 Park St, in Orange.*****Flo and Gene Edgerly are home after attending the State AFL-CIO convention in Austin. Sons, Todd and John, along with Necey Gauthier and her dad Charles, accompanied them.*****Bridge City Postmaster Bob Bullard has been hospitalized with a heart attack.*****Pretty Jean Laperyrolerie will be 18 on Aug. 2. She starts college at Lamar this fall to study journalism.*****The Orange Stars baseball team sponsored by Boren Dry Wall and Franklin Sporting Goods are Mike Granger, Corky Carr, Glenn Aldridge, Mike Bishop, Chuck Floyd, Wayne Franklin, Gary Franklin, Robin Carey, Bobby Allen, Randall Murphy, David Riddling, David Kirby,Joe Luna, Mike Kelly and Mike Kirby. Bat boys are Chuck Floyd Jr. and Chad Carr.*****A 1977 new Buick will set you back $5,369.*****Harry’s Appliance will give you a free seven-piece cookware set with the purchase of a Hardwick stove.*****The No. 1 country song this week is “It Was Almost Like a Song,” by Ronnie Milsap.

For five years I wondered what had become of Dan Barker. Well, I located him. He’s moved away from Bridge City about five years ago. A longtime resident, he sang bass for 40 years in the First Baptist Church choir. His father-in-law, Rev. Miers, was one of the early pastors. Dan married Rev. Miers daughter Marilyn. They were married 54 years when she died on Nov. 30, 2010. Dan lives with his daughter, Jill, in Cypress, near Houston. After 30 years in the control room at DuPont, he has to use a special amplified phone. His legs are bad and he’s more or less homebound. He’d be glad to hear from old friends. I reached him at 281-373-7487.*****ShirleyZimmerman got to take a trip to see and hold her new grandchild, born on her birthday. She says she didn’t want to put the baby down. Her stay was much too short but she gets daily reports. Shirley says Oklahoma is too far away.*****Judge Derry Dunn and his family held a Dunn family reunion this past weekend. The Dunn ancestors, going back to the original Franklin Dunn to the late Wilson “King” Dunn, gathered near Livingston Lake. Judge Dunn and wife Jane hosted their clan the first two weeks in July. Twenty-one folks in one house was crowded but they had a great time.*****Gov. Joe Christi will be the keynote speaker at the Republican convention. President Bush 41 and Bush 43 will not attend the convention. Believe me, Chief Justice Robert’s health ruling tells an untold story.*****Quote of the week comes from conservative columnist David Brooks in his Saturday national column, “It’s hard to fault Obama on the foreign policy front. Brooks gives credit to President Obama, VP Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the rest of the team. His quote is “Overall Obama’s record is impressive and partly as a result of his efforts. Foreign policy is not a hot campaign issue because Mitt Romney is having a great deal of trouble identifying profound disagreement. If that is not a sign of success I don’t know what is.” I couldn’t have said it any better.*****A few natives having birthdays, Ryan Kimbrough, Allison LeLeux and Larry Wingate all celebrate on July 25.***Liza Simmons, Bruce Perkins and Joseph Whitehead celebrate on July 27.***Blaze Montagne becomes a teenager (13) on July 28. Hard to believe his pretty young-looking mom Heather has a teenage son. Blaze is being schooled in the way of life by his granddad Johnny. Grandmother Darlene has the job of reprogramming him.***Dr. Joe Majors, a longtime resident of Bridge City and one of the town’s first dentists, celebrates on July 29. Joe and Mary left Bridge City after Ike and now live in the College Station area. Son, Dr. Chuck Majors, is practicing just down Hwy. 21 at Caldwell.***Lisa Faulk and Laurie Davis also celebrate on July 29.***Ronda Hale, Conner Godwin and Daniel Faircloth celebrate on July 30.***Our friend, the lion tamer himself, Stump Weatherford, marks another birthday on July 31 as does Mary Bradford.***Belated happy birthday to a real sweetheart, Margie Stephens, who celebrated her special day Tuesday, July 24. Best wishes to all. Please see complete birthday list in this column.*****This week three special people who have left us would be celebrating birthdays. Mary Fontenot, who celebrated with Margie on July 24, Rev. Leo Anderson and Rev. W.F. Gamlin, who celebrated July 29. Brother Gamlin would be 100 years old.*****Sixties teen idol, Bobby Rydell, 70, had liver and kidney transplant surgery. The singers hits include “Wild Love,” and “Volare,” He wouldn’t have lived much longer without the double organ transplant. They used part of a donor liver to help him, and the other part to help a child.*****Runoff voting now in progress in the Republican runoff for United States Senate, between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz, who is supported by the National Tea Party, movement. In Sunday’s Houston Chronicle endorsement of Dewhurst said, “Texas doesn’t need an obstructionist in the senate.” The two candidates are pulling out all the stops in order to get voters out for the July 31 runoff, neither candidate has mentioned the name Romney. A low turn out favors Cruz. That would be a good match up for the more qualified Democratic, Paul Sadler, who must also win his runoff. Sadler is a four-time selection by Texas Monthly as the “Top Legislator in Austin.” He also has been praised by Gov. George Bush and was invited to the White House after Bush became president. Before the primary Sadler was endorsed by every major newspaper in Texas. First however, he has to win a runoff for a face off in the general election.*****For United States Congress, Dist 36, the Chronicle picks Stephen Takach over Steve Stockman in the runoff.*****I ran into Janis Overman. She reports her mom and our longtime, dear friend Inez Hearn is going strong and just keeps recharging. Nez will turn 95 in December. Up until a few years ago she was out helping old folks.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Matt LeBlanc will be 45 on July 25 and Iman, 57.***Mick Jagger will be 69 on July 26; Sandra Bullock, 48; Kevin Spacey, 53 and Dorothy Hamill, 56.***Alex Rodriguez will be 36 on July 27; Bill Engvall, 55; Maya Rudolph, 40 and Jill Arrington, 40.***Sally Struthers will be 64 on July 28; Martina McBride, 46; and Stephen Droff, 39.***ArnoldSchwarzenegger will be 65 on July 30; Delta Burke, 56; LisaKudrow, 49; Hilary Swank, 35; and Vivica A. Fox, 48.***WesleySnipes, 50 on July 31; J.K. Rowling, 47 and Loren Dean, 43.

CAJUN STORY OF THE WEEK

Joe Comeaux him, he walked into Dr. Chauvin, da dentist, office and he ax da doc how much it will cost to extract a wisdom teet. “Eighty dollars,” da dentist answer.

The historical monument for “Gatemouth” Brown was unveiled at Hollywood Cemetery last weekend. Mark Dunn said he enjoyed hanging out with Gate’s brother Bobby Brown and former jockey Henry “Jitter” Lowe. He said it was a great ceremony.*****I really enjoyed Dan Wallach’s story, in the Enterprise, on Buddy Davis, 81, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1952 at the games in Helsinki. He broke a 16 year record with a high jump of 6 ft., 8.33 inches. Buddy went on to play basketball in the NBA. I lived in Port Arthur on that July 20th day and Buddy being from Nederland everyone in the area was pulling for him. Our friend Shaun Davis, manager of Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission, is one of Buddy’s ten children. He and wife, Tammy, are some of our special folks. Buddy was a two-time, All American at A&M and won two championship rings in the NBA. He and wife, Margaret, live in the Lufkin area.***** Another summer Olympic is coming around and I always look forward to the competition.*****The Wednesday Lunch Bunch will dine at Robert’s this week and back to Novrozsky’s next Wednesday. Last week, Van Choate stopped by and Zach Johnson, incoming Republican county chair, dined with the Bunch.*****We understand longtime friend, attorney Lynwood Sanders, has been under the weather. We wish him a speedy recovery.*****We are also told Ms. Ruby Pickard hasn’t been doing well and is in a facility in Beaumont. She’s a sweetheart, kind and has a strong constitution. Our prayers are with her.*****Well, another column done. It’s an honor to be in your home. I hope we have been informative and entertaining. Thanks for your loyalty. Please patronize our family of advertisers who bring us to you each week. Read us cover to cover and keep up with up to the minute news on our web, TheRecordLive.com. Take care and God bless.